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New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods

In terms of isotopic technologies, it is essential to be able to produce materials with an enriched isotopic abundance (i.e., a compound isotopic labelled with (2)H, (13)C, (6)Li, (18)O or (37)Cl), which is one that differs from natural abundance. The isotopic-labelled compounds can be used to study...

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Autores principales: Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu, Niculescu, Violeta-Carolina, Iordache, Andreea-Maria
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10222844/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37241444
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16103817
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author Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu
Niculescu, Violeta-Carolina
Iordache, Andreea-Maria
author_facet Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu
Niculescu, Violeta-Carolina
Iordache, Andreea-Maria
author_sort Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu
collection PubMed
description In terms of isotopic technologies, it is essential to be able to produce materials with an enriched isotopic abundance (i.e., a compound isotopic labelled with (2)H, (13)C, (6)Li, (18)O or (37)Cl), which is one that differs from natural abundance. The isotopic-labelled compounds can be used to study different natural processes (like compounds labelled with (2)H, (13)C, or (18)O), or they can be used to produce other isotopes as in the case of (6)Li, which can be used to produce (3)H, or to produce LiH that acts like a protection shield against fast neutrons. At the same time, (7)Li isotope can be used as a pH controller in nuclear reactors. The COLEX process, which is currently the only technology available to produce (6)Li at industrial scale, has environmental drawbacks due to generation of Hg waste and vapours. Therefore, there is a need for new eco-friendly technologies for separation of (6)Li. The separation factor of (6)Li/(7)Li with chemical extraction methods in two liquid phases using crown ethers is comparable to that of COLEX method, but has the disadvantages of low distribution coefficient of Li and the loss of crown ethers during the extraction. Electrochemical separation of lithium isotopes through the difference in migration rates between (6)Li and (7)Li is one of the green and promising alternatives for the separation of lithium isotopes, but this methodology requires complicated experimental setup and optimisation. Displacement chromatography methods like ion exchange in different experimental configurations have been also applied to enrich (6)Li with promising results. Besides separation methods, there is also a need for development of new analysis methods (ICP-MS, MC-ICP-MS, TIMS) for reliable determination of Li isotope ratios upon enrichment. Considering all the above-mentioned facts, this paper will try to emphasize the current trends in separation techniques of lithium isotopes by exposing all the chemical separation and spectrometric analysis methods, and highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.
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spelling pubmed-102228442023-05-28 New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu Niculescu, Violeta-Carolina Iordache, Andreea-Maria Materials (Basel) Review In terms of isotopic technologies, it is essential to be able to produce materials with an enriched isotopic abundance (i.e., a compound isotopic labelled with (2)H, (13)C, (6)Li, (18)O or (37)Cl), which is one that differs from natural abundance. The isotopic-labelled compounds can be used to study different natural processes (like compounds labelled with (2)H, (13)C, or (18)O), or they can be used to produce other isotopes as in the case of (6)Li, which can be used to produce (3)H, or to produce LiH that acts like a protection shield against fast neutrons. At the same time, (7)Li isotope can be used as a pH controller in nuclear reactors. The COLEX process, which is currently the only technology available to produce (6)Li at industrial scale, has environmental drawbacks due to generation of Hg waste and vapours. Therefore, there is a need for new eco-friendly technologies for separation of (6)Li. The separation factor of (6)Li/(7)Li with chemical extraction methods in two liquid phases using crown ethers is comparable to that of COLEX method, but has the disadvantages of low distribution coefficient of Li and the loss of crown ethers during the extraction. Electrochemical separation of lithium isotopes through the difference in migration rates between (6)Li and (7)Li is one of the green and promising alternatives for the separation of lithium isotopes, but this methodology requires complicated experimental setup and optimisation. Displacement chromatography methods like ion exchange in different experimental configurations have been also applied to enrich (6)Li with promising results. Besides separation methods, there is also a need for development of new analysis methods (ICP-MS, MC-ICP-MS, TIMS) for reliable determination of Li isotope ratios upon enrichment. Considering all the above-mentioned facts, this paper will try to emphasize the current trends in separation techniques of lithium isotopes by exposing all the chemical separation and spectrometric analysis methods, and highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. MDPI 2023-05-18 /pmc/articles/PMC10222844/ /pubmed/37241444 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16103817 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu
Niculescu, Violeta-Carolina
Iordache, Andreea-Maria
New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title_full New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title_fullStr New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title_full_unstemmed New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title_short New Trends in Separation Techniques of Lithium Isotopes: A Review of Chemical Separation Methods
title_sort new trends in separation techniques of lithium isotopes: a review of chemical separation methods
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10222844/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37241444
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16103817
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